Behind Enemy Lines
by elyjayne
Summary: 'Bad love will make a museum of you.'– Jillian Fleck
1. Friday Night

**Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all that belong to me. Everything else belongs to J.K Rowling, I do not claim ownership to it. Thank you for reading.**

In typical London style, it was raining that morning as Victoria Drew pulled her apartment door closed behind her and dashed across the street. In typical Victoria Drew style, she was already running late for work.

In all honesty, Victoria couldn't have cared less—her job was pathetic, but she desperately needed the money. Otherwise she'd have to move back in with parents, and she did not want that to happen. She knew she wouldn't be able to bear another year of snide remarks about her unemployment made by her father, and endless cups of tea and circled newspaper ads that her mother would bring up the stairs with a sympathetic look on her face. It was almost worth sitting behind a desk all day, doing nothing, if it meant avoiding that.

She'd been lucky to get the job at the Ministry of Magic at all. At the time she was thoroughly outraged and even a little bit depressed that it was the only job she could get. She was a Hogwarts graduate, an ex-Ravenclaw and her NEWT scores were more than impressive. Yet, there she was—a nineteen year-old stuck in a dead-end job.

Once upon a time, she'd had ambition. In her Hogwarts days, her friends used to joke about her becoming the next Minister of Magic but that had died out soon after graduation. As it turned out, Victoria wasn't even good enough to become the Minister's secretary—the job she'd originally applied for. By now, she realised ambition would get her nowhere, instead it was much easier if she just accepted her position in life.

Her family had never been rich, but they weren't poor either. Sometimes she wondered if it would have been easier if they had been, rather than stuck in this awkward middle class limbo. That awkward limbo seemed to define her entire being. She was halfway between pretty and ugly—though some would argue for one more than other. She was halfway between talented and useless. She was halfway between a witch and a muggle—a half-blood. It'd never bothered her at school, but now it seemed like it was all that mattered.

Sure, she wasn't a muggleborn but nowadays, her muggle father was as damning as ever. In Hogwarts, she'd been one of those silly, one of those naïve people that didn't believe in what was coming. She'd laughed at the idea of a war in the wizarding world, and now she couldn't ignore the feeling that it was right on her doorstop. At any moment she could be taken away like the others. There one moment, gone the next.

She'd already lost friends—Danny Larson, for example. Victoria had met Danny on her very first day at Hogwarts. They were both Ravenclaws and became fast friends. He was a muggleborn, and only two weeks after their graduation—he disappeared. Victoria and her 'friends' had never quite recovered. She'd lived in fear that she'd be taken any moment ever since.

The Ministry job was sort of like a safety blanket. More than that though, it was much needed money. It didn't pay very well, but the small amount she got every week was saved up and stored in the back of her sock drawer—just waiting for the day when she had enough to up and move herself somewhere safer.

It'd been her plan for almost a year now, and she was almost ready to leave.

If Victoria had had any idea what was going to come in the next few months, she would have left then and she would have never looked back. Unfortunately, she was not blessed with the ability to foresee the future. If she'd been able to see into the future, she never would have gone out that night. But she couldn't, and so she did.

It was an unspoken sort of weekly ritual. Every Friday night, Victoria would make her way down Diagon Alley and into a seedy little bar in Knockturn Alley. She would take a seat at the very back and order a firewhiskey from the barman—before that firewhiskey arrived, the boys would.

It was impossible to say how this had all started. In fact, she couldn't remember her reasoning at all but that didn't stop her from turning up every week.

"You're looking well," Evan Rosier said, sliding into the seat beside Victoria. He gestured to the barman to bring him and his friends a round of firewhiskey. "How's the Ministry treating you?" It was a joke with these boys, because they all well and truly knew how Victoria felt about her work.

"When are you finally going to leave?" Wilkes asked, with his trademark smirk.

Victoria brushed both of them off with a wave of her hand, "When are you all finally going to do something with all your free time?"

Avery snorted, "We have plenty to do with our free time. The Dark-" Avery drifted off, no doubt as a result of Evan's sharp glare. They never of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in front of Victoria, though she knew very well that all four of the boys had taken the mark long ago.

"If we got jobs, then we surely wouldn't be able to spend as much time with you," Regulus Black drawled, wrapping his arm around Victoria's waist.

"You'd miss Reg then, wouldn't you?" Wilkes teased, and Avery chuckled in response. That was another thing they never discussed—whatever went on between Regulus and Victoria. Then again, Wilkes and Avery had always been a few ingredients short of a potion.

"Keep your mouths shut," Evan furiously whispered over the table, "We don't want anyone recognising any of us." He raised his glass to his lips and took a long sip of his drink. By the time he was done, his charming smile was plastered over his lips again as if it had been there the whole time.

Victoria felt a shiver run up her spine—it always terrified her how quickly the boys in front of her could change. That's what they were—boys. They were just barely out of Hogwarts—Avery and Wilkes were older than Victoria (only by a year), but both Regulus and Evan had only graduated that June. She knew what they were, what they must have done but she could see this boyish innocence in all of them in certain lights. In a way, she figured herself to be a little in love with them all—her boys.

"Are you ready to head off?" Regulus whispered in her ear, bringing her back to reality. She nodded weakly, and followed Regulus out of the bar—the boys all nodded in acknowledgment as they headed out.

A part of her knew how unhealthy this all was, but knew she could never stop. She was too far gone to pull herself back now.

 **Authors Note: I posted this story originally on HPFF, but I decided I'd start posting on here too. I've already got eleven chapters ready to be posted so I'll be updating pretty regularly, at least until I've run out of those. Let me know what you think of this!**


	2. Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all that belong to me. Everything else belongs to J.K Rowling, I do not claim ownership to it. Thank you for reading!**

Victoria woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. It took her an hour before she was able to coax herself out of bed and into the kitchen for a cup of tea. Her apartment looked the same as always—a little messy, but still bearable. There were no signs that Regulus had ever been there.

That was how this worked after all. Sometime in the very early hours of the morning while Victoria was still fast asleep, Regulus would pick up his things and disappear from her life entirely until the next Friday. Sure, it was strange and Victoria didn't even want to begin to imagine what her mother would have to say about it, but it worked. For a couple of hours a week, she was wanted and that's all she needed.

Victoria poured a drop of milk into her cup of tea and curled up on the couch with her newly delivered copy of The Daily Prophet. This was her usual morning routine—a cup of tea, the couch and a quick check through the missing pages of the paper. It was bittersweet in a way, but she'd gotten so used that she didn't even think of it anymore. It was just something she did to pass the time.

She was lucky that she got weekends off—the Ministry was usually empty on the weekends and so there was no use for secretaries, especially terrible ones like Victoria. Needless to say, she looked forward to the weekends more than anything. Usually, she just spent her time lying around her apartment, doing nothing but it was still nice. When she was fresh out of Hogwarts she had used the weekends to catch up with her friends, go shopping with the girls or get a spot of lunch and then spend the night at outrageous parties and cosy bars where they all got royally drunk. Those days were long gone.

She lost contact with those friends months ago—the loss of Danny caused a strain on their friendship, and it was then that she realised they'd only ever talked to her because of Danny. She decided to put them out of their misery. Nowadays, the only people she talked to apart from her parents and the people she was forced to make contact with at work, were the boys.

They were rules though. It was only ever on Friday nights that they knew each other. If they passed in the street, something that didn't happen very often due to Victoria's self-imposed prison sentence, they just walked on by. Sometimes Victoria almost wished things were different.

There were times when she felt this pang of loneliness so strong that she considered owling the four of them and inviting them round. Only Regulus knew where she lived, and she knew it had to stay that way. Maybe trusting a Death Eater wasn't the best idea, but she had a feeling that Regulus wouldn't betray her. Or at least, he hadn't yet.

She didn't pretend that there was anything real between them. She figured Regulus did it for the same reason she did—to hold that loneliness at bay, even just for a little while. He may have seemed to have more 'friends' than her, but sometimes when no one else was looking, he'd send his look that made her realise how alone he felt. She knew the feeling too well to resist him.

That's how she'd gotten into this mess in the first place. Danny had always said that she was too trusting, it'd just taken her this long to figure it out for herself. She didn't know how to stop though, and maybe she didn't want to. Sometimes it was nice to have somewhere there, even if it was just for the night.

She shook the thought from her head and downed the last of her tea. She needed to get out of the house, get Regulus out of her head. She went back to her bedroom and threw on a pair of jeans and a top that lay unwashed on her floor. She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and made her way out of her apartment.

The air was cold, especially for mid September. It felt like winter had already arrived. Victoria considered going back upstairs for her coat, but she knew that she'd just stay up there and so she continued on, rubbing her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to keep warm.

She found herself in The Leaky Cauldron before long. Despite living in Muggle London, she had never explored the area—her trips outside usually consisted of travelling to the Ministry and to Diagon Alley. She wasn't nearly as adventurous as she'd been once. Nowadays, it was safer to stick to the places you knew otherwise you might find yourself in trouble - whether it be at the hands of Death Eaters or the opposing side. Victoria didn't particularly want anything to do with either group.

As she made her way through The Leaky Cauldron—that was particularly busy for a Saturday, especially after Hogwarts had started up again, she thought about her own Hogwarts days. It seemed so long ago now, though she'd only been graduated for two years. She could hardly remember what it felt like to pack up her things and get on the Hogwarts Express. She was so wrapped up in these thoughts that she didn't notice the man watching her from the other side of the room.

There was something weird about being in Diagon Alley during the day for her now. She was so used to passing through at night that she was surprised to see the shops bustling with witches and wizards. The way everyone was moving around it was almost impossible to tell that there was a war going on. Now and again, someone would whisper something to their companion or the look in someone's eye would change to fear as another person passed them. That was the unavoidable hint of the war.

Victoria wandered for the rest of the day, slipping in and out of shops as she pleased and stopping every now and again for a quick bite to eat. The day passed quickly, and before she knew it, it had turned colder and darker. With a sigh, she headed home - pausing in The Leaky Cauldron for a moment where she wished she'd had her fireplace approved for the Floo Network. It hadn't seemed important at the time, but now she regretted it.

The walk home seemed even longer because of it. Not only was it freezing, but she had the distinct impression that someone was following her but every time she turned around to check there would be no one there. She brushed it off, and quickened her pace.

The war did funny things to people's minds.

It was hardly a comforting thought, but it had slipped into Victoria's mind before she could stop it. Now it was only thing she could think of. A part inside of her wanted to pretend it wasn't true. She wanted to pretend that everything was right with the world, but she didn't have that childish ability anymore.

She'd almost reached her apartment building when something crashed behind her. There was a curse of 'you idiot!' that bought her to a stop. It was a man's voice - unfamiliar too, which only made her heart beat quicker. She risked a peak over her shoulder but she couldn't see anyone in the dark.

The street was quite apart from the usual London noises—sirens wailing in the distance, a loud, drunk laugh from someone. She focused on her building in the distance—at the most, it was maybe twenty metres away. If she ran quick enough, maybe she could make it before whoever was behind her caught up. She'd never been a great runner though.

She decided to risk it. She sprinted off, her feet pounding against the floor and her ragged breath make white puffs around her. At that moment she cursed herself for not keeping fit.

The people behind her followed—there'd been a couple of curse words when she'd set off, but now they were silent. Victoria could only hope that meant they were as out of shape as she was.

She'd just stepped up onto the first step that led to her apartment building when someone grabbed her from behind. She kicked and swung her arms around, but that didn't help her at all. Her mind was racing with possibilities and fears, and so she didn't even have time to form an escape plan in her mind.

It wouldn't have mattered though. She heard a second pair of footsteps behind her, and an out of breath voiced whispered, "Petrificus Totalus."

Then, she was still.

 **Authors Note: I haven't quite worked out a posting schedule for my pre-written chapters yet, so I thought I'd just put this up today. That's really all I have to say about this...Thanks for reading!**


	3. Stupidity and Judgement

**Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all that belong to me. Everything else belongs to J.K Rowling, I do not claim ownership to it. Thank you for reading.**

When the world came back into focus around her the first thing she did was curse her own stupidity. What kind of person trusted a Death Eater? Let alone four of them.

She let out a groan, turned onto her side and lifted up her hand to shield her eyes from the bright light. Her prison room was significantly nicer than what she'd been expecting, though she supposed those arrogant purebloods had a reputation to uphold. Merlin knows what would happen if rumours started going around that not every room in the Malfoy Manor was perfect. Something like that would kill poor Lucius.

She highly doubted this was the Malfoy Manor anyway. It was grander than what Victoria was used to, but it didn't strike her as being grand enough for the Malfoy's. Maybe it was one of the boys' places? She knew Evan, she paused for a moment, she knew Rosier lived in a fancy Manor but Wilkes and Avery lived in an apartment somewhere together. The Black's lived in London, Grimmauld Place—even Victoria knew that. This place seemed far too bright for the London she was used to.

The walls were painted an odd shade—a mix between egg yellow and gold that made the rest of the pre-1900 furniture look even older. She thought it looked ridiculous, but the things were probably considered heirlooms. In her experience, the rich were into those kinds of things.

She was tied by one hand to a rustic old bed. She'd tried freeing herself with her other hand, but the rope was enchanted and so all her pulling was for nothing. From the bed she couldn't see anything apart from the furniture of the room and the door. There was a window too, but it was oddly high up on the wall and so she couldn't peak through it. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to. This place seemed depressing enough, she didn't care to see what English field she would be killed by.

She was oddly calm considering she well and truly understood what was going to happen in this house. She was more confused as to why they hadn't already done it. They could have easily shot the killing curse at her on the street, but instead they had just knocked her out. Why? Was this some kind of torture method they had?

Oh Merlin, they were going to torture her for information. She tried pulling on the rope again, a new desperation for escape flooded her heart but it was still no use. She didn't even know anything. She was a lowly secretary at the Ministry, she'd never heard anything even remotely important and if she had, she certainly hadn't been listening.

She was going to die because she was too stubborn to let go of a couple of boys. She should have just stayed home. In that moment, she promised herself that she'd never leave her apartment again if she ever got out of this place alive. Maybe she'd just move back in with her parents and adopt thirteen cats and speak in riddles to anyone who dared to come across her.

She'd been so tied up in these thoughts that she hadn't even noticed the door creak open until someone cleared their throat. Victoria snapped her head around, cursing the sharp pain this caused.

"You're awake," The voice said—a woman, much prettier than how Victoria pictured a Death Eater to look. "Are you feeling alright?"

"What does it matter?" Victoria cut back, hating the way her voice sounded, she cleared her throat and tried to sound less afraid, "You're going to kill me anyway."

The woman sighed, running her fingers through her dark hair, "I told them that sending Black to get you was a terrible idea. You poor thing, you're probably half scared to death."

"I knew it was Black," She said coldly, looking the woman up and down, "I suppose you're the infamous Madam Lestrange, then."

The woman laughed, a considerably warmer laugh that what Victoria was expecting, "Oh Merlin," The woman whispered, "You really are poor thing."

Victoria turned her face towards the wall—she couldn't stand the pity in the other woman's eyes.

"You've got the wrong side, love," The woman said, "I'm Emmeline Vance. We're fighting against them."

"Why am I here then?" Victoria blurted out.

"I'll let one of the others explain that," With that, Emmeline turned on her heel and Victoria was left alone once again with her thoughts.

* * *

At some point, it seemed that Victoria had drifted back off to sleep because the next time she opened her eyes, a red headed girl stood in her room—Lily Evans, they'd been in the same year at Hogwarts.

"You look different," Lily said by way of greeting, "A lot paler than you used to be." Victoria didn't reply. "Em said you thought she was a Death Eater."

"So Em has made me the laughing stock out there, has she?" She spat bitterly.

Lily looked taken aback, "You used to be sweet. What happened to you?"

"Life," She responded dryly, "Not all of us got our Prince Charming's."

"No," Lily agreed, almost solemnly, "Some of us get Death Eaters instead, evidently."

"You can't judge me," Victoria half-whispered, "We do what we must do to stay alive."

"You'll get used to the judging, Drew," Lily replied, almost venomously, "That's what you're here for after all."

Victoria was left fuming as Lily closed the door — her footsteps disappearing quickly down a flight of stairs. She let out a sigh, only a few hours into captivity and she'd already made a fool of herself and driven away the only one who might have given her answers.

What did Lily mean that she was here to be judged? Why was she here at all? She figured it was something to do with Black. It wasn't as if her meetings with the boys would have gone completely unnoticed — she'd always accepted that as a fact, but this? She was not expecting this. Whatever this was.

Maybe they were going to kill her instead? Maybe they'd torture her for information that she didn't have. She and the boys had never spoken about their 'work', and it wasn't as if she and Regulus had cuddle sessions where they decided exactly how many muggleborns he'd tortured the night before, or even earlier that day.

She was innocent in all of this.

Wasn't she?

* * *

It turned out that the house full of people didn't see it that way.

A particularly ruffled looking Remus Lupin had bought her downstairs. She was shocked to see him—not because she never imagined he would be there, after all wherever Potter and Black were Lupin and Pettigrew would never be far behind, but because he looked even worse off than he had in school.

His face was covered in more scars, Victoria had never understood where they'd come from in the first place. His clothes barely fit him, a sign that he'd lost even more weight since graduation and his hair was longer than she'd ever seen. She had almost wanted to wrap her arms around him when he let herself into her prison cell, after all they had been friends at school, but the uncomfortable look in his eyes kept her away. He was judging her.

Downstairs was worse. The living room was filled with people, some that Victoria knew, like James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, and others that she had never seen before. They all clearly knew who she was.

"Miss Drew," Dumbledore said, considering the tension in the room, he sounded strangely joyful at Victoria's presence, "I'm sorry we had to bring you here so unkindly, but we were inclined to believe that you wouldn't come willingly." Pettigrew snorted at this, but Victoria kept her eyes on Dumbledore. "It's been a while, but I'm sure you remember your old peers —"

"Yes, but why am I here?" Victoria cut him off, resulting in a dark look from several members of the room.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled slightly, "Of course, my dear, I suspect no one has told you anything. It's a Gryffindor trait, I must say—that fierce loyalty, but nevermind."

"You're one of them," Pettigrew cut in, but he shrunk back when Potter sent him a stern look.

"Please, Mr Pettigrew, don't get ahead of yourself," Dumbledore replied, only turning his head slightly towards Pettigrew though he kept his eyes trained on Victoria. "People in this room have evidence to suggest that you are working for a dark wizard, most commonly referred to as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, that you are one of his followers—a Death Eater." Eyes throughout the room darkened at this statement, someone even growled but Dumbledore waved them all off with a shake of his hand, "I don't believe that you are Miss Drew. In fact, I think you just happen to be a very lost witch in this terrible war. I'm giving you the chance to change that."

"How?"

"Join us," The corner of Dumbledore's lip turned upwards slightly.

"And what would that entail?" Victoria asked, tilting her chin up to mask her fear and uncertainty.

"I believe you have a connection with some of the young men fighting for this cause."

Perfect images of the boys popped into her head. She could see Wilkes—his cropped dirty blond hair and those hawk-like eyes. Avery—that smirk whenever he thought of a particularly horrible joke. Evan—the way his dark hair covered his eyes, the smell of cigarettes that clung to him. And finally, Regulus—that smile he sent her sometimes, the one that didn't quite reach his eyes but made her weak in the knees anyway.

"You want me to turn them over," Victoria whispered. She found it hard to speak with the sound of the boys' laughs echoing in her head.

"No," Dumbledore replied softly, "We want you to help us save them."

 **Authors Note: I meant to put this chapter up on Monday night, but it's the last week of the semester which means I am drowning in assignments. For now, I think I'll be updating once week, but it depends how much writing I get done in my break. I do have everything planned out, I just need to write it!**


	4. Save Them

**Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all that belong to me. Everything else belongs to J.K Rowling, I do not claim ownership to it. Thank you for reading.**

Save them. Save a bunch of already Death Eaters. The idea was ridiculous. Evan had always said that Dumbledore was more than a little touched in the head. She'd always secretly disagreed with him, but now—signs seemed to indicate that he was right.

She wondered whether she was touched in the head too. She hadn't been able to say anything downstairs. Instead, she just stared blankly at Dumbledore once he'd finished speaking. Remus had bought her back up to her prison, only this time she wasn't tied to the bed.

Save them? Really?

Victoria shook her head. She liked the boys, she couldn't lie about that, but she also knew them—she knew they couldn't be saved. They were too far gone, and anyway, they didn't want to be saved. They thought they were doing the 'right' thing, they believed in their cause. There was no way they'd change their minds.

They saw the world split in half. Mudbloods and mudblood lovers, and purebloods. There was nothing else. There would never be anything else for them.

Not for the first time, she wondered where they were, what they were doing. Had they even noticed she was gone? She didn't even know what day it was. Had Friday already passed? Had they been worried when she didn't turn up for their usual drink? Had Regulus been worried?

In all honesty, it wouldn't have surprised her if the boys didn't even care. She'd always known they didn't value her company like she did theirs. They had families, friends, creepy snake-like leaders to tell them who to kill. They didn't need pathetic little Victoria Drew.

But dear Merlin, did she need them.

* * *

That's what had done it. That little thought, the realisation that she needed these boys to live. Ironically, it could be thing that would lead to her death.

"Do you understand how this works?" Remus asked, he'd leant over the table towards her, clearly having noticed the way she'd lost focus.

"I owl you whenever I notice or hear something that might help the Order," She replied almost mechanically—they'd gone over this more times than she could count. "I use the codewords and codenames we've been through. You're Moony."

"And if anything goes wrong?" He asked, his face was softer when he asked this as if he'd really be upset if something was to happen to her. She wanted to laugh in his face.

"I owl you," She replied instead, "And you'll make sure everything is safe."

He nodded once, "How are you feeling?"

"They don't talk about him much," She blurted out. She said that same sentence more times in the last few days than she could possibly count. For whatever reason, the Order didn't care or maybe they didn't believe her. They still went ahead with the whole thing.

"Just be careful, yeah?" Victoria nodded, "Alright, will you be alright to apparate home?"

"Of course," He pushed himself out of his chair and gestured for her to do the same.

"You're really brave, Victoria," He said, he went to reach his hand over to her but she'd already turned on her heel and pushed her way through the Order headquarters. She didn't stop moving, her eyes looking straight forward, until she finally reached the living room of her apartment.

Then everything went to shit.

She'd never been one to be blinded by anger, and yet that day it was like she'd become a monster. She pulled her boots off quickly and threw her at the wall. Books were flung across the room, the mug she'd left on the kitchen counter was smashed into tiny pieces that cut into her now bare feet.

She pulled at her hair. She clawed at her throat.

She was out of control.

"Quite the performance you've got going on here," A voice interrupted. She dropped the awful vase that had been in her hands.

"Regulus?" She whispered, watching him carefully as he strode out of her room and over to her.

"Where've you been, Vic?" He asked, with every step closer to her, she stepped back another two until her back was pressed up against the wall. "Your feet are bleeding," He said softly. She hadn't noticed the stinging pain until he spoke. "Let me heal them," She nodded once, intending to hobble over to the couch when suddenly Regulus had lifted her into his arms.

"I can walk, you know," She said bitterly.

"Barely," He replied with a roll of his eyes, "Now stop wriggling," He said, laying her down on the couch. He sat down at the end of the couch, moving her legs into his lap.

"Thank you," She whispered, as he started his work. He was surprisingly gentle for a Death Eater. Her mind reminded her that he was still Regulus—he'd always been gentle with her.

"So, what's your answer?" He asked after they'd been silent for a while. He'd finished with her feet now, but rather than moving them away, he held onto them.

"That depends," She raised an eyebrow, "What was your question?"

"Where've you been?" He repeated, his eyes were searching her. In that moment, she felt like he could see into her soul—past all the walls she put up, and the lies she told herself and everyone else. He could see Victoria. "I was worried about you."

The moment smashed like someone had thrown a brick through a glass window. What was she supposed to tell him? Oh, I got captured by your older brother and forced to join the Order of the Phoenix to save you and the other boys and bring an end to You-Know-Who's reign? Somehow she figured that wouldn't go down well.

She was only freaking him out—she could tell by the way he was looking at her like she needed to be wrapped up in a blanket and sung a lullaby to. He squeezed her knee comfortingly, and shuffled up the couch to be closer to her. Not even an hour in, and she could already see the Order's plan dissolving before her eyes.

So she did the only thing she knew how to do. She pulled on Regulus's collar, and lowered his lips to her.

He didn't question her after that.

 **Author's Note: So that was chapter four! I want to thank everyone who is following and reviewing this story—I've been busy with assignments, but I promise I'll get back to you all soon. That's all I think...I'll see you next week with the next chapter.**


	5. Visitors

**Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all that belong to me. Everything else belongs to J.K Rowling, I do not claim ownership to it. Thank you for reading.**

Victoria woke up the next morning ready to go back to her usual routine. She shuffled herself over to the edge of the bed to check her clock. She let out a loud groan, and was trying to convince herself to swing her legs over the edge of her bed when an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back to the middle of the bed.

"Where are you going?" She found herself eye to eye with a sleepy, but cheeky Regulus.

"Shouldn't you be back home?" She asked in reply.

He let out a chuckle, "Trying to get rid of me, Vic? And no, my parents are away for the next two weeks," He pulled her closed again and buried his head in her shoulder, placing light kisses as he moved along, "I can spend all my time with you." She smiled, shuffling herself down until she could comfortably rest her head on his chest. Both of them were asleep again in no time.

When she woke up again later—three hours later according to her clock, she found her bed empty. She pulled herself out of bed, trying to shake off her disappointment that Regulus had disappeared as usual. She tried to remind her that she didn't own him. The two of them weren't even dating, not really. She had no reason to be disappointed with him.

She was slowly making her way out to the kitchen for her morning cup of tea when she noticed Regulus crouched down in her living room. He stacking up a pile of books—ones she'd flung across her apartment the day before. "Morning," He smirked over at her, levitating the books back into the bookshelf. He'd clearly woken up early enough to go back to his house and change into a navy blue sweater—he'd needed to after she practically tore his shirt off the night before.

"You didn't have to clean up after me," She said in reply, she watched him from the doorway of her bedroom for a moment.

"I figured if I did it then you couldn't use it as a way of avoiding my questions," He cut back. She'd stupidly thought that after last night that maybe he would have let the whole thing go. She was seriously starting to question whether she'd deserved to be a Ravenclaw at all. "Not that I didn't enjoy last night," He added with a smirk in her direction, "That doesn't change the fact I'm worried about you though. I've never seen you like that before. So tell me, what's happened?"

"It's difficult to explain," She let out a sigh. She meant to think of an excuse last night, but then they'd gotten a little carried away.

"Difficult?" He quirked one of his eyebrows. Yes, difficult as in it might just get me, you and everyone you know killed. Oh, and by the way, last night—that was great. Let's do again sometime if we don't die.

"It's family stuff," She ended up settling on.

"Vic," He warned, "You know I understand family stuff better than anyone."

"Do I?" The words came blurting out of Victoria's mouth before she had the chance to think them through, "We've never really talked before. We just sleep together, and then you leave."

He sent her a confused look, and then sighed, "I guess you're right. Maybe we should change that?"

"What do you mean?" Her response was instantaneous. This was not going the way she thought it would at all.

"Well, I can't really take you out for ice cream in Diagon Alley," He started, "But you could come around to mine tonight and I'll have Kreacher, that's our house elf, cook us dinner."

"You really know how to woo the ladies," She replied dryly, though inside her heart was beating like mad.

He grinned, he crossed the room to her and wrapped her up in his arms, "Good thing I'm only trying to woo the one lady."

* * *

"I thought he'd never leave," A voice said, just as Victoria went to close her apartment door.

"Have you been here this whole time, Black?" She asked, as Sirius sauntered around the corner and pushed his way into her apartment. She checked to make sure Regulus wasn't coming back before closing her door, and turning to look at him.

"You didn't tell the Order you were screwing my little brother," He said, his voice was light and teasing despite the bitterness in his words.

"I don't see how it's any of your business," She replied, crossing her arms over her chest. She was painfully aware of the fact she was still wearing her skimpy pyjamas.

"I suppose so," He shrugged his shoulders, "Though I'm sure Dumbledore is more than aware of it. I mean, it's not as if you're particularly quiet, is it? I could hear you through the walls. It's a miracle your neighbours haven't complained."

"You're disgusting," She shot back, pursing her lips together, "What did you want anyway, Black? Lupin is my contact, not you."

"Thought I'd welcome you to the Order properly," He replied with a little smirk. It reminded her too much of Regulus—she ignored the jump in her stomach.

"You were plenty welcoming the other night," She said, "Emmeline said it was you they sent to get me."

"I couldn't believe you actually," He let out a little bark laugh, "I followed you all day, and not once did you realise I was there. That must be why Reg likes you so much—you're too thick to notice anything around you."

"Well, you've welcomed me," She smiled sweetly, "Now you can buzz off."

He threw his head back in laughter, "I can't say this was the warm reception I was expecting."

"Funny about that," She said dryly, "What did you expect to happen?"

"I admit I was rather hoping for a welcome like the one you gave Reg," The smirk was back.

"I wouldn't touch you for all the galleons in the world," She glared over at him.

"I wouldn't bet on that," He whispered, brushing up against her side and he let himself out of her apartment. She stood there frozen for a moment—half disgusted, half confused before she let out a loud groan, and slammed her apartment door closed.

Stupid Sirius Black.

* * *

Maybe this had been a stupid idea, and yet, her legs refused to move. She spared a glance over her shoulder and let out a loud sigh, raising her knuckles to knock the door. It flew open immediately.

"It's about time," Regulus said on the other side, pulling her inside from the cold, "I was starting to wonder whether you were ever going to knock."

"You've been standing there this whole time?" She said, letting Regulus turn her around so he could take her coat off her shoulders.

"I was worried you wouldn't turn up," He replied, sounding a lot less confident than she'd ever heard him. "Come on, Kreacher's got dinner waiting for us."

"No wine and pre-dinner talk?" She half-teased as he led her through a dark corridor.

"Well, there's was supposed to be but then somebody waited outside for half an hour," He replied, he shot her a grin over his shoulder that made her go weak at the knees. She liked it more than anything when he smiled.

"I was nervous," She whispered. She thought he wouldn't be able to hear her, but his hand squeezed hers gently. The dining room wasn't exactly what she'd been expecting. It was dark and grim, which seemed to fit right in with the rest of the house. It was also barely big enough to swing a cat in, and yet the Black's were absurdly rich.

"What are you thinking?" Regulus asked, cutting through her thoughts. He dropped her hand and was now staring at her with a worried expression on his face.

"It's smaller than I imagined."

"What?" He furrowed his brows, "What did you expect? Gold plated chandeliers and crystal goblets?" He let out a laugh that stopped abruptly when he saw the expression on her face, "You were. Oh Merlin. I'm sorry to completely disappoint you."

"I just figured," She broke off, "Well, your family is loaded. I just assumed the whole place would be ridiculously decadent."

"Oh, we save the decadence for upstairs," He replied seriously, "With the severed house elf heads, and that sort of stuff."

"You're kidding," She said instantly, her eyes widening.

"No, that's real," He replied with the shrug of his shoulders, "Don't you know it's an honour for a house elf to have their head cut off by their master when they're too old for service?"

"That's cruel," She whispered, "Sorry, I—"

"No, I agree with you," He shook his head suddenly, "Let's not talk about that anymore," He pulled out a seat for Victoria and helped her into it, even adding a little kiss to her hand as an extra flourish. "Now, Miss Drew, let me spoil you."

She felt herself go to pieces. There was no helping her now.

 **Authors Note: I'm a few days late with this, but I've been so busy with assignments and things that I kind of forgot to put this up on Tuesday. I'm now on Winter break from university, so I should be on time next week!**


	6. This Is It

**Disclaimer: The OC's and parts of the plot are all that belong to me. Everything else belongs to J.K Rowling, I do not claim ownership to it. Thank you for reading.**

 _Mona,_

 _I haven't heard anything from you in a few days. Can you please send me an update on how you are?_

 _I hope you're safe,_

 _Moony._

Victoria threw the letter into her fireplace and sighed. She was already regretting her choice to help the Order. What had she been thinking agreeing in the first place? She wasn't a spy—far from it. Besides, she was a Ravenclaw and they were neutral in these sorts of matters. Just like at Hogwarts, this was purely a Gryffindor vs. Slytherin fight. She should have never gotten involved.

More than that, she hated the codename Mona. It was her mother's name, and therefore the Order had decided it wouldn't be common knowledge. They said it would keep her safe, but really it all it did for now was remind her what was to come.

She'd lost her job. It turned out bosses generally didn't appreciate their employees disappearing without notice for a few days, no matter how awful those employees happened to be. She couldn't say she hadn't seen it coming. She knew they'd been looking for a reason to fire her for months. Now they'd finally found one. As glad as she was to be out of that hellhole, it meant goodbye London, hello Birmingham.

She wondered how long she'd last back at her parents house. She'd moved out the second she could, and had promised herself to never wind up back there again. Her parents weren't bad people. It was only that her mum was a bit of wet blanket, and her dad, well, he was a Muggle—he didn't and wouldn't understand the magical world. It would be like her teenage summers all over again. She'd rather crucio herself.

A part of her didn't want to admit it, but she was also hesitant to leave Regulus behind. After the dinner at his house, the two of them had spent almost every free moment with one another. She wasn't stupid enough to call it love, or to even consider it but it was something. It was something she hadn't felt since Hogwarts. She wasn't ready to give him up just yet, and she definitely wasn't going to invite him up to Birmingham. Her dad still thought she was a baby in that department, and she planned to keep it that way. She couldn't imagine her mum would be overly fond of a Black in her house, even if she'd never say it out loud. Just the thought of the disappointment on her parents' faces made the idea seem even worse than before.

She sighed again. She'd have to write a letter back to Remus before he had a search party out for her—a search party that would mostly like include Sirius Black. At least if she moved back to Birmingham, she wouldn't have to see that tosser anymore. Then again, she wouldn't put it past him to drop in announced just to bug her.

 _Moony,_

 _All is fine. Nothing to report._

 _Mona._

She scratched out her letter, and then winced slightly at how awful her handwriting had become. She hoped that Remus would be able to read it. If not, the Order might have some fun interpreting her letter. Maybe it would give them something to do other than kidnapping innocent young women.

* * *

"You two are looking cozy tonight," Evan smirked, slipping into his usual seat beside Victoria. Neither she nor Regulus dignified him with an answer, though Victoria shuffled an inch away from Regulus' embrace—that was as far as he'd let her go. "How's the Ministry?" He asked with his usual mocking tone.

"I wouldn't know," She replied, Evan looked taken aback, "I got fired."

"It's about time," Wilkes said with a laugh as he and Avery finally joined them, "We were taking bets on how much longer you'd last there."

"Thanks for your overwhelming belief in me, boys," She said dryly. She wasn't in the mood to be teased and bantered with that night. She wanted to be back in her apartment, in bed, savouring the last few days she had of freedom.

"Someone's feisty tonight," Avery commented, sharing a look with the other two boys. Regulus refused to meet their eyes.

"She's been getting even busier with Reg than usual," Wilkes winked at him, and then again over at Victoria.

"I'd watch what you say, Braxston," Regulus shot back, a dark expression on his face. An awkward silence fell over the group. While Regulus and Evan were almost always referred to as such, Wilkes and Avery were always referred to by their last names. Never Braxton and Lyndon. They all knew what it meant, even Victoria—she was his now, and the others were expected to respect that.

"Did you see the match on Sunday?" Avery said, breaking the silence and returning a sense of normalcy to the group. At least, to the boys.

Victoria sat silently as they droned on and on, wishing even more than before that she'd just stayed in bed. She couldn't believe how stupid Regulus had just been. Did he not understand what he'd just done? She hazarded a look over at him. No, of course he didn't. News like this got around quickly in pureblood circles. Before she knew it, she'd have Death Eaters on her doorsteps expecting her to join up. She was the girlfriend of Regulus Black, after all.

She stood up suddenly, before she even knew what she was doing. All four boys stared up at her as if she'd grown an extra head, or two.

"Victoria?" Evan said, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

She stared at him for a minute, then suddenly her feet seemed to have a mind of their own as she found herself storming out of the bar and through Knockturn Alley at lightning speed. She could barely hear Regulus calling after her, and the sound of the boys trying to chase after her but she was gone, apparating in front of her building. She was up the stairs and inside in a matter of seconds.

"So you can apparate," A voice said from the couch, Victoria ground her teeth together in reply, "I was just wondering, since you thought it would be a good idea to walk home the other night."

"Shut up, Black," She replied, rather than acknowledge his presence, she turned her attention to getting a glass of water without dropping the glass with her shaking hands.

"You are incredibly rude to me, you know?" He drawled, swinging his legs over the side of the couch and joining her in the kitchen. "You're shaking," He said, his voice softening immediately, "What's happened?"

"It's going to happen," She replied, at his confused look she went on, "Death Eaters. Any day. Here."

"You've been caught?" He asked, she couldn't ignore the worry in his face despite how much she wanted too.

"No, but," She took a deep breath, "Your brother just pretty much confirmed our relationship."

"Hadn't he already?" He asked, the cockiness in his voice had return, "Anyone who heard you two on the floor the other morning would've assumed so."

"Not like that," She replied, sending him a disgusted look, "He protected me in front of his friends. Word'll get around pretty quickly."

"And you figure Death Eaters are coming to kill you because you shagged my brother?" Sirius let out a laugh, "They may be inbred idiots, but even that this a little far fetched for them."

"Not kill me," She groaned, "Recruit me. Do you honestly think I could date a Black and not be expected to do something for their cause?"

Sirius' face softened again, "We can keep you safe."

"You don't get it," She replied, running her fingers through her hair, "I'm not a pureblood. My dad's a Muggle."

"I'm going to take a guess that my darling brother doesn't know this little fact about you."

"You'd be right."

His face broke out into a grin, "So you have got guts, eh Vic?"

"Don't call me that," She replied, pursing her lips together, "I don't see the funny side here."

"Oh, I get it, only Reg gets to call you that, right?" He teased, "I suppose I'll play along, but I'm going to need my own nickname for you."

"How about Mona?" She offered dryly.

"No, that's awful," She couldn't help but agree, "I've got it—Tori."

"No," Victoria shook her head, "Absolutely not."

"Why not?" He pouted, "It's a great nickname."

"Fine," She threw her hands up in surrender, "If you get to call me Tori, then I get to call you Siri."

"You don't play fair," Sirius groaned.

"Take it or leave it, Black," She could barely keep the proud smirk off her face.

"Whatever," He sighed, Victoria's grin grew wider, "I'll be back in the morning."

"Why?" She wrinkled her nose like he was a bad smell.

"I've got to keep you safe, right?" The grin had been well and truly wiped off her face by then. She stood frozen in her kitchen, and Sirius kissed her forehead and ruffled her hair on his way out of her door.

There—that proved it. There was definitely something very wrong with the Black brothers.

 **Authors Note: I really wanted to get this up earlier, but my grandpa passed away last week so I didn't feel like putting this up. I'm going away for a week tomorrow, so I won't have another update until at least then.**


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